Why I Mostly Quit Rideshare Driving

I was attracted by the huge sign-up bonus incentive Uber offered to new drivers through referrals back in 2016. On a long Uber ride, I asked the driver several questions regarding his perspective and experience being a rideshare driver for Uber. The driver confirmed my positive thoughts about being a rideshare driver. By the end of the trip, the driver sent me a referral code that I used to qualify for the bonus. In addition, the driver offered his support until I completed the ride requirements to achieve the promotion. I have to say, those were the easiest one thousand dollars ($1,000) I ever made in a few days.

Today in 2018, however, a lot has changed. Although I still make the same amount of money per week I used to make back when I started, I have to drive more and spend more time on the road just to make the same amount.

Why Full-Time Driving is a Bad Idea

When I first started, Uber sent me the $500 sign-up bonus as soon as I completed the rides requirement. After that, Uber provided incentives for me to drive during rush hours in Los Angeles (7:00AM-9:00AM and 4:00PM-7:00PM) in addition to other incentives to complete a weekly number of rides.

In the beginning of 2017, the incentives used to be $3 per trip completed within those time frames. Over time, the rush hour incentives went down from $3 per trip to $2 per trip, and again to $1 per trip, until one day Uber removed the rush hour incentive completely. The rides completed during these times used to also be eligible for weekly ride requirements, which together with rush hour earnings yielded a high weekly pay for me. However, today the rush hour incentive no longer exists and the requirements for the weekly incentives are ridiculously high.

Time is Money—I Spend More Time, I Spend More Money

Perhaps the ever increasing traffic jams in Los Angeles are not Uber’s or Lyft’s fault. However, the reason why I have spend more time the road, including during traffic hours, is that Uber and Lyft no longer provide promotions or bonuses that allow me to earn a living. As a result, I have to spend more time on bumper-to-bumper traffic just to make the same I was making when I was completing promotions.

If time is money, and I am spending more time on the road to make the same amount of money, then I am actually losing money. For instance, the car's drivetrain tends to wear out faster in stop-and-go traffic. As a result, the money I earned by driving in traffic eventually was spent on maintenance and repairs. In other words, I was driving in traffic just to pay for maintenance and repairs that I would not need if I did not drive in traffic (note the irony).

Why It Makes More Sense to Quit Full Time Driving

Driving for Uber and Lyft is just like any other business; you have to invest money to earn money. In this case, gasoline, car insurance, DMV fees, maintenance and repairs represent the money a vehicle owner has to invest to keep your car running and making money. If you rent, lease, or finance the vehicle you drive, then this is an additional cost you have to pay.

At this point in my experience driving for both Uber and Lyft, the money I spend keeping the car running month to month is approximately $795 (gasoline, insurance, maintenance, and car payment) while the money I earn by the end of the month from ridesharing is $1650. If you subtract my expenses ($795) from my earnings ($1650), I have $855 left over month to month.

I am still making money and I am still earning a profit. However, the money and time I invest into driving does not pay enough to encourage me to keep driving full time. Any part-time job in Los Angeles would easily pay me $855 a month for a few hours of my time every week. Therefore, it does not make any sense to invest all this time and money into rideshare driving when I could easily be making that same amount of money in less time in any part-time job.

Why Part-Time Driving is a Great Idea

Even though Uber and Lyft no longer offer attractive incentives, both companies still offer some descent incentives to drive during certain times and occasions. For instance, I still take advantage of the high surge price during concerts and sport events. Also, I drive when there are good surge prices during certain times and on certain locations that generate good side money for me. In addition, both Uber and Lyft are available for me anytime I want to drive. This means I could drive when I have a day off work or when I am bored at home. Furthermore, I can use Uber and Lyft destination feature every time I have to drive far away and want to make money on my way there and on my way back. I use this feature every time I visit friends or family on who live on distant cities of the state.

Although I no longer drive full time, occasionally driving for Uber and Lyft generates great side income for me. Driving full time represented a cost in terms of money and time, but occasional rideshare driving is actually a wonderful idea.

Connect with us

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, toughnickel.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)

Google AdSense Host API

This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

Facebook Login

You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)

Maven

This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)

We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.

Conversion Tracking Pixels

We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.

Statistics

Author Google Analytics

This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)

Comscore

ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)

Amazon Tracking Pixel

Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)